


Pillow Talk

by Crimstar



Category: Ai no Kusabi
Genre: Fluff, M/M, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-04
Updated: 2014-02-04
Packaged: 2018-01-11 03:02:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1167868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crimstar/pseuds/Crimstar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lying in bed one evening, Riki discovers something new about his Master.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Pillow Talk

Riki was slowly growing sleepier as the minutes went past. Lying next to Iason after they made love always seemed to have that effect on him. The blondie was reading, as he often did before retiring for the night. Riki cuddled a bit closer to his Master, trying to see if he could discern what the book was about without asking. He had made several snide comments condemning Iason’s love of books in the past and he didn’t want to lose face now for showing interest in this one. The blondie’s lips turned up ever so slightly as his pet drew closer, but said nothing. 

From his new position, Riki could see enough of the book to read the top portions of the pages. Most of the words were beyond him, but those that he was able to pick up seemed to be about dancing. This piqued his interest. Why would a blondie read a book about dancing? The mongrel pretended to stretch and yawn so that he could twist his body forward enough to briefly check the book’s cover. There was an image of a blue-skinned alien female in an elaborate golden gown posed elegantly on a floor of white marble. 

It really was a book about dancing.

"Are you tired?" Iason asked, curious as to why his pet had contorted his body so strangely as he yawned. One normally stretched backward, not forward, but then Riki had shown him time and time again that he did not know as much about human behavior as he thought. 

Riki nodded unconvincingly and curled back up beside his Master.

"Would you like me to turn out the light so you can sleep?"

"No," Riki shrugged. "You can keep reading if you want to."

Iason smiled. There were still many things Riki had left to learn about Blondie physiology. “I fully plan on it,” he declared. “The light though is negligible. I have it on for your convenience, not my own, so if you would like it off, then I will turn it off.”

Riki sat up at this. He cocked an eyebrow, looking at his master with an expression of blunt confusion.

“What?”

Iason was thoroughly amused by the innocence of Riki’s curious expression and it showed on his face.

"To put it simply, love, I can see in the dark."

"No way," Riki scoffed, crossing his arms in disbelief.

"Shall I prove it to you?"

"How?"

Iason laughed gently and got out of bed. He stood in the farthest corner of the room, easily fifty feet away from his pet.

"Lights: Off," Iason commanded.

“ _Affirmative, Lord Mink._ " Came the warm feminine response of the home-control system’s AI. Riki had taken to calling her Trin. The lights shut off immediately thereafter, bathing the room in a wash of black. 

"Hold up a number on your fingers, Love."

Riki was skeptical, but Iason had surprised him before. He held four fingers.

"Four," Iason said confidently.

Riki was both floored and vaguely creeped out. He couldn’t see his hand and it was two inches in front of his face so how the hell had Iason seen it from across the room?

"Lucky guess," Riki said, trying to seem unimpressed. "Bet you can’t do it twice though."

"Another round then?"

The mongrel nodded, then felt silly because it was pitch black. Immediately he wondered if Iason had seen that as well.

This time Riki tried to be sneaky. He set his fingers in position in his lap: two fingers on his left hand and five on his right. Before he could even throw them up in the air though, Iason called out, ”Seven. And next time don’t try and cheat. Naughty pet.”

Riki was amazed and he didn’t try to hide it this time. He instantly held up three fingers.

"Three."

Another set.

"Ten."

Another.

"Nine. I feel I’ve proved my point. Six. Four. Eight. Ah, come now, no rude gestures, pet."

Riki dropped his hands and started laughing. He had held his fingers up in the sign of the revolution; the one created long ago by the people of Ceres during their rebellion against Jupiter. It was used in the slums as a familial gesture, but to registered citizens in Midas and Tanagura, it had long since been classified as an offensive one.

Iason walked back to rejoin his pet on the bed.

"Lights: On."

“ _Affirmative, Lord Mink,_ " Trin confirmed.

The lights came on and Iason could see tears of laughter shining in wet streaks down his pet’s cheeks.

"Such a naughty boy."

"I had to be sure you weren’t using some kind of trick. Worked though, didn’t it?"

Riki gave a rakish grin and winked at Iason playfully, letting him know it was all in good fun.

Iason’s heart swelled with affection for his pet. He drew the mongrel to his chest, wrapping strong bare arms around him.

"I trust I have sufficiently proven my abilities to you?"

Riki tilted his head back and looked up at his Master, grinning cheekily. He found that, even upside down, Iason was still amazingly attractive. The mongrel grinned a bit wider. “You have. Damn, that’s so unfair. I wish _I_ could see in the dark.”

"It does have its advantages I will admit." Though Iason would never tell Riki for fear of unnerving him, he often used his ability to watch the mongrel while he slept. He found that the abrasive walls his pet had erected around himself fell away when he slept, leaving behind in contrast an endearingly innocent, almost child-like, young man.

"So, can you see color or is it all black and white?"

"I can see a somewhat muted range of coloration, so it is not entirely monochromatic."

"So like a dog?"

Iason laughed at the simplicity of this comparison. “Yes, my darling pet. Very much like a dog.” He cuddled Riki in his arms and kissed the top of his head. “You say the most endearing things, love. My precious little wolf cub, what would I do without you?”

Riki sighed contentedly, but refrained from answering his Master’s question. Fortunately for Iason, the blondie did not need his cybernetic eyes to see into Riki’s heart. In such moments, the love his pet held for him was written on his face, plain as day, for all the world to see.


End file.
